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tv   CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin  CNN  August 10, 2017 12:00pm-1:00pm PDT

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i think that gives you an indication maybe of if he expects his secretary of state to be successful when it comes to negotiating a way out of this crisis that continues to escalate. >> gloria borger's also joining us here out of washington. gloria, what did you make of all of that? >> look, i think the president's not backing down. he tried to make the case, as my colleagues were saying, that everyone is on the sort of same page. i noticed while he could describe how robust general mattis was, he was a little vague about secretary tillerson. and sort of wandered off when he was trying to say what secretary tillerson said. i think this, you know, this is a president who made the case that he is saying things that his presenteds s presenteds so say, and there is nothing wrong with it. i think, you know, the fact he is meeting with national security advisers, you know,
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makes it clear that everything is on the table here, as sara was saying, and i think that he hasn't backed off one ounce, and wants to make that clear to north korea. >> all right. elise abbott here in new york. watching you react listening to the president. you agree with jeff zeleny, that even though, yes, he's not backing off, or he is doubling down, you think he is clarifying? >> i do think he's clarifying. i mean, look, with the fire and fury, he said if north korea threatens us again, they better watch it, you know, we'll unleash our fire -- >> everyone's kind cof like, wht does that mean. >> because north korea makes threats on a daily basis and most times you roll your eyes and say they don't mean it. for him to lay out that red line, that's one thing. today, he said if north korea is thinking about attacking us, about attacking our allies,
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don't. because we will, in a sense, annihilate you. that's what i think, you know, after that fire and fury comment, that's what secretary tillerson and jim mattis were trying to do in different ways. now, when they say everyone's kind of singing of the same page, they're all in the same band, but they just can't get the kind of, you know, harmony together that they want. what they're trying to do is walk back that threat and say, look, the president needs to give a very tough message. let north korea know that we're ready. our defenses are ready. and we could think about a preemptive strike if they go too far. but i think the problem is, you know, this rhetoric is escalating, escalating, and there's always room for miscalculation, you know, president trump will say that these are considered words, but every word in diplomacy so important. and he thinks that, you know, he's being unpredictable. kim jong-un, you know, that will keep kim jong-un off guard. i don't think trump knows how
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unpredictable kim is. >> does anyone know? >> he may not attack the united states. he may just lob a couple of missiles at south korea, not do a ton of damage, but spiral this whole thing out of control. really this is an effort by this strrths administration, to, a, cool the temperature, and b, be clear to north korea about what the red line is. >> do you feel the temperature is on the downgrade? >> he didn't say fire and fury. i mean, so, you know, and the likes of which you've never seen. >> maybe he said the fire and fury wasn't tough enough. >> yeah, but he didn't say fire and fury again. >> so it's a good day? >> i think you're dealing -- i think he generally -- yes, i'm sure he knew he would get questions about this. yes, i'm sure he thought of what he would say. do i think he has a very specific plan? no. no. i mean, never does. so i'm not -- i'm not sure that this would be any different. he trusts his own gut instincts. and he doesn't ever apologize.
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that makes him very common among politicians. they never apologize. but it feels to me sort of like, oh, kim jong-un said what, you can give him this one, you know, and -- >> yep, that's right. >> while that may satisfy donald trump, i don't know that that functions as a policy or to alisa's point, misunderstandings occur all the time when you're being careful with your words diplomatically, right? >> that's right. >> this certainly makes me think misunderstandings are even more possible now. when we say misunderstandings, this isn't about, hey, brooke, we were supposed to meet on 59th street and i went to 58th street starbucks. there's massive politically policy world complications that go. which is why the words have to be careful. >> he's also falling for, you know, kim jong-un's bait.
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for years the north koreans used this fiery rhetoric. i mean, some things they said about u.s. officials i won't even repeat on this family program. so i mean there's north korean threats and then north korea missile launches, nuclear tests. everybody says don't listen to donald trump tweets, look at what he does. i think the president, you know, needs to kind of not listen so much to these crazy statements that come out of north korean state media and look at what the north korean regime does. >> our job is not to match them rhetoric for rhetoric. that's a losing game for us, giving what kim jong-un is willing to say. >> let me bring more voices in. let me go back to washington. jake tapper listening in to the president there. your reaction to what we just heard? >> first of all, i think it's intriguing the president thinks that as he said it's about time someone stuck up for the people of our country. this is obviously the showdown with north korea and the pending nuclear weapons threat from north korea has been a problem
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that military leaders and presidents have been facing for decades. obviously each of them failing in their own way whether barack obama, george w. bush or bill clinton. but it's not as though they're doing it their way was not trying to stick up for the country. obviously, it's not particularly new to observe the president trump thinks that belicostiy represents strengths and saying things that sound mask collar represents strength. senator john mccain, who's the chairman of the senate armed services committee, yesterday said it might be better to follow the advice of teddy roosevelt and speak softly and carry a big stick. obviously the united states with the most powerful military in the world has that big stick and there are those who think that what's going on right now is president trump is kind of pushing kim jong-un into a corner and what's important is
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that kim jong-un be given a choice, not be put into a corner. the choice being either go on the road he's going on or back off, but there needs to be some sort of exit, some sort of off ramp for him, because obviously pursuing this path is leading to the showdown. so the idea that maybe the words need to be stronger than fire and fury, the likes of which the world has never seen. you heard a reporter shout out what could that possibly be, what would possibly be stronger than fire and fury the likes of which the world has never seen? and the president said, we'll see, we'll see. but it's obviously a pretty stark statement. and we're told it was ad libbed by president trump. >> right. >> and this is probaby a period, at least according to expert, on showdowns with north korea, when people should be choosing their words very carefully and not speaking
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extemporaneously. >> the bell s couicosity of his language mirroring what we heard from pyongyang. that is the language that kim jong-un understands and, quite frankly, having just sat down with six trump supporters, you know, that is the kind of language that translates for them. that is why they want this man in the white house. >> and here's the thing on that, i know it's important that the media, especially because the media as a whole and in general and as a stereotype missed the trump phenomenon last year in many instances. and i think it's important obviously people in the media pay attention to what trump supporters want. but international diplomacy and international relations, this is not something that is important what the base thinks of it. it's important what -- how it's playing out overseas and ultimately what the net result will be. so frankly as much as -- as important as it is that the people in the media and the people in washington understand what all sectors of the
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electorate think about different issues including the trump base, it's frankly irrelevant. this is about how kim jong-un and how the japanese and how the south koreans and how the american service members and their families in south korea and japan and guam, how they are receiving these words and how the threat ultimately -- what ultimately happens with north korea. >> what about this interview that sebastian gorka did with the bbc, this trump adviser, i know you interviewed. this line, the idea that tillerson is going to discuss military matters is simply nonsense sennone sen nonsensical, generally it should be mattis, what did you make of that? >> i thought it was in any other white house or administration it would be unusual, but in a white house like this one, in which there's so much infighting, when you have bannon versus mcmaster. now you have gorka trying to
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undermine the words of the secretary of state, the secretary of state who indupably has much higher security clearance than the former breitbart editor, gorka. it's bizarre. normally people don't try to undermine their own secretary of state, especially when he is trying to -- if one assumes there is some sort of strategy going on here, secretary tillerson is the quote/unquote good cop, he is the one trying to provide the off ramp for kim jong un. even defense secretary mattis are being a lot stronger in their words. i don't know why anybody at the white house would be trying to undermine or undercut the secretary of state. it's just a bizarre turn of events. again, this is a white house and an administration where there is so much infighting out in the open i guess it's par for the course. >> since i have you and we're listening to the president, you know, the other big piece of news made was his comments on
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the senate majority leader, right? we've seen the tweets. toss them up on screen of just the last 24 hours of how the president has characterized the mitch mcconnell and his inability to follow through on his seven-year promise, to repeal and replace obamacare. here is the president today. you know, doesn't understand why it's taking them so long. asked whether the senate majority leader should resign. and he said, see if he can get repeal and replace done and then ask me. then ask me. again, another, jake, another republican who the president is publicly criticizing. is that working out for him? >> well, it's interesting. it's not unlike president trump. i mean, there are people who he needs. chinese president xi is possibly an even more important example, who he has taken to twitter to publicly dismiss or berate. i think there are a lot of people who are conservative
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republicans, not necessarily trump supporters, who are very disappointed, despite the fact they have passed repeal obamacare bills for years, that republicans did not have any sort of plan. so it's not as though it's an invalid cite many is. that said, it's not just mitch mcconnell's fault. he's not the only one who owns it. i've been talking to a number of republicans in town since the bill went down and there's not one person who thinks president trump was helpful in terms of getting the bill passed. there were conversations he had with a number of the house and senate in which he did not demonstrate any expertise about the bill. where his salesmanship qualities that obviously got him very far in the business world were lacking where he was not able to turn them. we know he had a conversation with senator lisa murkowski of alaska.
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and not only was he not able to convince her to vote for the bill, it apparently was something of a testy and unproductive conversation. so, yes, mitch mcconnell owns the defeat of the trump care bill, the failure to repeal and replace. but president trump, as i understand it from republicans on capitol hill, he wasn't particularly helpful either. when you have approval ratings in the 30s, that's also not really helpful for republicans who are trying to think about what's going to happen to them in 2018 or 2020. >> chris, to you, yes, his approval ratings are low, but congress' are even lower. if you elaine chao, the transportation secretary, who is married to the senate leader, and your boss is throwing shade on your husband, #awkward. you wrote a whole piece on how the president is picking a dumb fight. >> yes, this was before -- right, thanks, i don't like to
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quote myself. this is before this latest. it was before both of the tweets today and this latest remark about mcconnell which essentially, jake is right, sometimes we get out of -- i think we forget because there's so much stuff like this happening. this is the president of the united states suggesting that maybe the senate majority leader of his party should maybe step down at some point in the future if he doesn't get enough done and ask me later. that is classic trump. stay tuned for the next episode, what a cliffhanger. it is remarkable that he would not do it once, not do it twice, not do it three times, this is the fourth time, three things on twitter and now this, in 24 hours in which donald trump is trying to goad mitch mcconnell. >> after the whole sessions. >> right, this is after jeff sessions, in which he basically did the same thing. >> what's his play? obviously, he thinks he needs mitch mcconnell to get something done through a republican-controlled house and
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senate. >> he does, yes. >> if you're thinking, i don't know, listen, i can't channel the president, but, you know, could his play be -- again, i go back to these trump supporters. they were say to me the other day they kept referring to the republicans on capitol hill as useless. it's not on the president, it's on these republicans and maybe this is the way, the president speaking to the base. if nothing goes through, he can say, see, i can throw my hands up because they didn't get it done. >> okay, a couple things. that's uniquely possible. one, the base of trump supporters are never not going to be with him. in a fight between trumpcconnel, they're going to choose trump. sure, that's a possibility. at the same time, i'm not sure it gets him anything he doesn't already have, so strategically, i don't get that. two, i think we have a tendency, jake mentioned this, we have a tendency because all the polling, all the conventional wisdom, all the money, all the organization, all the message,
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everything suggested hillary clinton was going to win the election and donald trump won. we have a tendency, we in the political press, have a tendency to say he's playing 37 dimensional chess. he's got a plan. he's got a board somewhere where he's got all these moves worked out. the words fire and fury was on purpose. i would suggest, you know, after 200 days it is at least as likely he's playing zero dimensional chess. why did he hit mitch mcconnell? because mcconnell ignored him when he made arguments earlier this week. mitch mcconnell made comments about him he didn't like. which was, well, the president doesn't totally understand how the process works, he's new to it. i think sometimes we make -- we overcompensate too soon. there's a broad strategy. >> fair point. we're reracking. i guess we don't rerack anymore in the digital age.
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we're going to replay the sound bide bite with the president making the news on mitch mcconnell, here he was. >> i say very simply where is repeal and replace. now i want tax reform and tax cuts. we're going to reduce taxes for the people. we pay more tax than anybody in the world. and we're going to reduce taxes. so i say tax cuts, tax reform. and i want a very big infrastructure bill where we're working on that very hard already. and we can do that. we may even get bipartisan on infrastructure. but we want to have it. but i said, mitch, get to work and let's get it done. they should have had this last one done. they lost by one vote. for a thing like that to happen is a disgrace. frankly, it shouldn't have happened. that i can tell you. it shouldn't have happened. >> -- consider stepping down? there are some conservatives, including sean hannity -- >> well, i'll tell you what, if he doesn't get repeal and
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replace done, and if he doesn't get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure, if he doesn't get them done, then you can ask me that question. >> mm. gloria? how will -- how will republicans react to that kind of public shaming of their leader? >> well, look, they're not going to actually. because honestly, you know, this was an immaculate conception here, the problem. and i think that as jake was saying earlier, there are a lot of republicans who are -- were saying this president needed to get more involved on the get go on the substance and the issues involved. and the reasons that people like murkowski and collins and in the end mccain weren't going to be for this bill and why the governors, the republican governors were complaining about this bill. so that he has some ownership of this failure. but he is pushing it all to the
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leader as donald trump always does because he is never to blame for any problem. the reason this may work for him politically and you were saying this earlier, brooke, from your interviews with trump supporters, is when you look at our poll that came out today, among republicans, the president is twice as popular as republican leaders in the congress. twice as popular. >> yes. >> so there's no hell to pay for him if he's criticizing mitch mcconnell with his base. where it causes him trouble is with his base in the congress. those people. because if they believe he doesn't have their back, as many of those folks believe, then he creates more problems for himself and they're not, you know, they're not going to like this. don't forget, mitch mcconnell isn't the only republican he
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criticized. including threatening senator heller with his job, right? so i do think that helps his base, hurts him gets things done. >> murkowski, mccain, am i missing anyone? >> sessions. >> egs isessions. one senator, right. we're keeping score on that. gloria, thank you so much. you know, on all this breaking news. in the midst of this working vacation with the president there. making news on both the senate majority leader and also on north korea, doubling down, in case you missed it, roll it. >> frankly, the people that were questioning that statement, was it too tough, maybe it wasn't tough enough. they've been doing this to our country for a long time, many years. it's about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. so, if anything, maybe that statement wasn't tough enough. and we're backed by 100% by our
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military. we're backed by everybody. we're backed by many other leaders. i notice that many senators and others today came out very much in favor of what i said. but if anything, that statement may not be tough enough. they've been negotiating now for 25 years. look at clinton. he folded on the negotiations. he was weak and ineffective. you look what happeneded with bush. you look what happened with obama. obama, he didn't even want to talk about it. but i talk. it's about time. somebody has to do it. north korea does anything in terms of even thinking about attack, of anybody that we love or we represent or our allies or us. they can be very, very nervous. i'll tell you what. and they should be very nervous. >> okay. cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson watching all of this from your perch there in london. i understand you made an interesting observation about how president trump mentioned in
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all of this on north korea china and russia. >> yes, he did. there was kind of some almost joined up diplomatic thinking. i don't want to step out of line with what he said a short while ago, that he thinks the president's playing zero dimensional chess. this may simply be the calculations of a businessman with a business mind-set. i think president trump laid that it's, that he knows that he needs china and russia later. but i think, you know, there was a sense that he sees again to get stuff done, to get what he wants done on north korea, he is going to need china, and he is going to continue to need russia. but i think he also telegraphed for us what he really thinks. he thinks that the u.s. sanctions, that he's very thankful to china and russia for helping for that, you know, 15-0 vote at the u.n. security council, to get the vote for tougher sanctions on north korea. that, he says he doesn't think that it's going to work. i think what it's doing here is
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telegraphing that he thinks it is going to come to a situation where he will have to ratchet up and perhaps meet his rhetoric here. you get the sense that maybe his mind is partly made up. yes, we'll do the sanctions because that's what everyone says we must do. we've got to keep everyone on board. we need to keep china. we need to keep russia in our corner. because we're going to need them to push harder. actually, i don't think that's going to work. actually telegraphing there that the fire and fury, his mind seems to be at that point. because he had no trouble going back to that same point again today. >> well, he did say, though, he didn't think recent sanctions would work. he talked about the past several decades and how nothing has been done. i think his phrase was, well, with regard to maybe what he's thinking or telegraphing, somebody has to do it. let me ask you about your opinion piece about kim jong-un and how he's thinking about what happened to moammar gadhafi. >> sure, back in the mid-2000s,
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i was meeting with some of gadhafi's top advisers. i got to know them pretty well during that period. come the arab spring 2011, this is after moammar gadhafi has decided to give up his nuclear weapons to be rehabilitated into the international community, close relationships with the british government, helping the united states and the british on counterterrorism, giving up his own sort of terrorist leanings and supportings. that when the push was coming to shove, was nato going to come out against gadhafi or not, when i was talking to his son and his advisers, they could not believe that the west would go against moammar gadhafi because they thought they had trust, because they thought they'd done what the west wanted. if you're kim looking at gadhafi's experience, you have to be thinking, how am i going to trust the west? gadhafi did what they wanted. he handed over his weapons programs.
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when push came to shove, no one supported him. so i think, you know, when he is sitting there making his analysis, that's part of the pit under. the other part of the picture is got to be what happened to gadhafi after he gave up the epwithens, weapons, after he trusted. he was killed by his own people. that's got to be going through kim's mind as well. the gadhafi experience is not one that's going to work well in kim's mind for coming to the table to talk. >> can still see the pictures of the golden gun, nic robertson. thank you. your op-ed, cnn.com. appreciate you. more on the breaking news in three minutes.
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it's the only way to know for sure. frankly, the people that were questioning that statement, was it too tough?
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maybe it wasn't tough enough. they've been doing this to our country for a long time, for many years. and it's about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. so if anything maybe that statement wasn't tough enough. and we're backed by 100% by our military, we're backed by everybody. and we're backed by many other leaders. and i noticed that many senators and others today came out very much in favor of what i said. but if anything, that statement may not be tough enough. >> let's talk about the news just made there by the president standing alongside the vice president on his working vacation. with me now, our guest the fellow at the council of foreign relations and gov and foreign service professor at georgetown university. also with me, national security analyst at the american enterprise institute. i knew we'd be talking north korea. we didn't know exactly what the president would say there at the
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end of his security briefing. so, matt, just to you first on -- unlike a couple of days ago in the fire and fury remark that apparently was off the cuff, seemed much more planned. but still doubling down. >> yes, ifused about the variou statements. i think it makes more sense. h.r. mcmaster is conducting security reviews. the first one completed is north korea. the outcome is two major elements. an element to increase pressure on north korea with the hope of bringing them to the table to get a deal. the second element is to defend ourselves and our allies from the threat that exists here and now. including the ability to respond with military force. so i think the statements about force, sanctions, diplomacy, are all really part of this bigger strategy. >> when he was standing there, he said he's backed by many
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other leaders. he's right about some lawmakers defending his rhetoric. senator rubio today saying it is ridiculous that the president is being criticized. >> that's right. i would say he has about an equal number of detractors as well. but, you know, that's it is whole message here, is, you know, on the one hand, you understand his frustration. because he's right, this predates many administrations. a problem that can't be solved. also you sympathize with his point that sanctions really haven't proven all that effective. sometimes more than others over the years. partly that's our own fault and our lack of enforcement. you can understand the white house's frustration. at the same time, you know, you don't ever want a war of words to become actual conflict. this president is faster and looser with his words than any in modern history. there's a sensitivity here surrounding not just this regime but the region. if we were to live over there and have the same conversation, i believe it's totally different. so if this were any other white house, brooke, i would have said that, boy, sure sounds like a
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smart coordinated strategy aimed at chinese leadership and their regime that, you know, we really want you to fix the problem. when i look at the tough talk, you know, war is possible, comb combined with the import duties on aluminum foil they just announced. and the freedom of navigation through the south china sea. it looks semicoordinated but i'm not sure that it is. >> a lot of people have been making that point, that maybe this is them talking to china but we don't know, we can't crawl in the president's head. matt, to you, just on -- i'm wondering how pyongyang responds to this. the original off the cuff threat, they called it a load of nonsense. a guy bereft of reason. president trump. and only absolute force can work on him. how do they react to this one? >> they're threatening to conduct an attack on the u.s. base in guam. they've been fairly specific, saying they're going to launch
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four intermediate range missiles. the north koreans are famous for making these threats and not following through. they say they're going to turn asia into a sea of fire about once a week and they haven't done that so i suspect this is bluster as well. but the united states and our allies do need to be prepared. i suspect the president is preparing for a possible attack. but i don't expect it to materialize. >> the president says they're all on the same page, you know, mattis, tillerson and himself. despite the varying tones of the statements put out by three of these men. my question to you, mckenzie, what about the new chief of staff, general john kelly? we know he said he's not controlling what the president tweets or how much tv he watches, but what do you think he's doing behind the scenes? because we know they were initially caught of guard by the president. >> i think there's no doubt. in his learning curve in this position, particularly, is still steep. he's days into this new position. i have a feeling he's doing most of his time coordinating with
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the other cabinet officials to try to get them on the same page. i saw a lot of daylight between secretaries tillerson and mattis' statements. secretary mattis was much more forceful in line with the presidents an and secretary tillerson's was much more comforting. there is confusion. his job really should be to help get everyone on the same page. starting with his national security adviser general mcmaster. and then the cabinet to follow. >> matt and mckenzie, thank you so much. speaking of the secretary of state, one of the president's own advisers today has now essentially thrown shade on the secretary of state. i'm paraphrasing. basically saying he should stay in his lane when it comes to talking about north korea. it should be general mattis, the secretary of defense, who's talking about this. so how's that playing out with some of this intraadministration fighting? quick break. you'll hear from sebastian gorka, this bbc interview, coming up next.
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and don't forget about them. uh huh. sure. still yes! you can get it too. welcome to the party. introducing gig-speed internet from xfinity. finally, gig for your neighborhood too. new signs of power grabs within the trump white house. the president's deputy assistant suggesting secretary of state tillerson was out of line for talking about military options and north korea. here is what gorka said to bbc radio. >> you should listen to the president. the idea that secretary tillerson is going to discuss military matters is simply nonsensical. the job of secretary mattis, secretary of defense, to talk about the military options. and he has done so unequivocally.
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today he said woe betide anyone who military challenges the u.s. secretary tillerson is the chief diplomat of the united states and it is his portfolio to handle those issues. >> just a short time ago, the state department spokeswoman, heather nauert, was asked about gorka's remark. >> the secretary, as you know, he has a close relationship with secretary mattis. our secretary, secretary tillerson, talks a lot about our diplomatic strategy and our diplomatic policy. that has not changed. the secretary has been very robust in that. just having returned, as we talked about yesterday, from the asean conference where he met with a lot of foreign officials. as i was coming out here, i heard about gorka's comments. i didn't hear them myself. so i don't want to comment on exactly what he had to say. but i can say that i speak for secretary tillerson and this building. our secretary has been very
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clear, as has secretary mattis, that our diplomatic and military means are both strong and capable. and in the face of the threats that we face against the dprk or other nations. >> let's start there with our guest, a cnn military analyst, and admiral john kirby, former spokesman at the state department under obama. admiral, you've been in that hot seat, you know, defending your secretary of state, and to hear this, you know, deputy to the president criticizing his secretary of state's authority, credibility, what were you thinking? >> you know, i got to tell you, i have a different take on this. i listened to it several times. i actually don't think that's what gorka was trying to do. i think he was trying to say, hey, tillerson was speaking in his lane, mattis is speaking in his lane, and i want to say that i think what he meant by
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nonsensical was you shouldn't mix the individual roles of the state department with the defense department. i didn't really take it as a slam against the secretary of state's credibility or authority. i think he was trying sort of parcel out why they each had different statements and sort of what was the context behind that. >> colonel, how did you hear it? >> well, i think i heard it a little bit differently from my friend admiral kirby. i would say that, you know, for mr. gorka to say the things that he said really flies in the face of two major things. first of all, the constitution of the united states which predicates civilian control of the military, and the traditions that we have, where the state department is actually the number one when it comes to foreign engagements, foreign diplomacy in the military, plays a supporting role in that case. number two, i referred mr. gorka to klauvitz. he basically said war is an extension of politics by other
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means. means diplomacy. for him to make that separation and distinction and sound like, he is actually taking the state department out of the business of military options, military consideration, military planning. that is a huge mistake. and it really, quite frankly, won't work. it is a -- was a very bad thing for him to actually make that statement not only to a radio reporter but a radio reporter of a major network in an allied country. >> admiral, how would you respond to that? >> i love sedrick. yes, we obviously see this differently. i do think that gorka is drawn too much to militaristic solution. i wouldn't disagree with sedrick he probably has an overly simplistic view of how control works in the country. if you look at what he said, and i read the transcript, i honestly don't think he meant it to come across that he was subject gaiting the state department to some sort of lower level of interaction. i think he was trying to say the state department has a diplomatic role. they've got to speak in more
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diplomatic language. than the secretary of defense can afford to do. i just -- again, i think we're maybe making more out of this than we need to. >> okay. gentlemen, thank you both so much. we have some news from president trump. moments ago declaring the opoid epidemic in this country a national emergency. we'll talk to our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta on this, what this means for so many people desperately in need of help, next.
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the opoid crisis is an emergency. i'm saying officially right now it is an emergency. it's a national emergency. we're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opoid crisis. we're going to draw it up and we're going to make it a national emergency. it is a serious problem. the likes of which we have never had. >> president trump there moments ago.
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saying his administration is working to declare the opoid crisis a national emergency in this country. let's go to sanjay gupta with what this really means for the americans who are dealing with this. >> well, you know, part of this is he's saying that this is going to happen, there's going to be some real specifics as i think you're alluding to, going to be important around this. what does this mean for the millions of people who are currently addicted. just a couple days ago, you remember, brooke, he said, look, the best strategy is to never have people get addict eed in t first place. which makes sense there are millions of people who are currently addicted. the question is what's this going to mean for those people. is there fog to be more resources available for those people? is there going to be different types of therapy to help treat their addictions available for those people? are there going to be medications to help reverse overdoses, you know, because people are dying from this. is there a way to increae the resources to try to prevent those deaths. you just heard this -- i just heard the same thing you did,
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brooke, obviously not a lot of details in that. those are some of the things people are looking for when discussing this opoid crisis as a national emergency. >> poppy harlow's been doing all this great reporting on people who have been dealing with this. you can check out her stuff, go to cnn.com/hooked. . president trump also tripping down on his criticism of republicans after the failure of his health care bill. many in the party agree. i recently met with five conservatives at the tic-toc diner in clifton, new jersey. here's part of our conversation. >> a show of hands, who thinks president trump has done a solid job the first six months. so, like, four. what's his biggest win, biggest accomplishment so far? >> i would say the biggest win that he's brought to the table has been the actual conversation about repeal and replace of health care. i think our system is broken, and i think it's important that he's bringing the conversation back to the table as someone
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who's willing to take action, and that i appreciate. >> marco, what about you? biggest win so far? >> i think he's been able to keep so far all of his promises. he's had some hurdles, for example, with the travel ban. the judges kept blocking it and stuff like that. same thing with the health care repeal. he said he's going to repeat it and replace it. he's been fighting for that so hard. it's been a adjustment for him going from a businessman to a politician so he's adjusting in that aspect. >> katie, what's the biggest accomplishment so far? >> consumer confidence. you can't argue how great our stock market is doing and i think people feel it. >> you think president trump has brought the markets to where they are? >> absolutely. i'm not going to say it wasn't going in that direction. i also feel safer. as an american, i feel safer and the respect that we're not going to bring in syrian refugees. i'm very fearful of what's happening in europe -- >> terror attacks, that kind of
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thing? >> yeah, yeah. i can tell you that i would rather him be sitting in that seat than anyone else. >> okay. so what about though disappointment? >> for the past eight years they've been saying we're going to repeal and replace obamacare and i feel like they only said that because they figured that hillary clinton is going to get elected, it's not going to happen. so they'll say whatever reenergizing their base to get them re-elected. >> you put this all on congress. none of the onus is on president trump? >> no. they had 8 years. >> the reality was the bill stunk. every iteration was horrible. none of these iterations would have addressed the core. the senate passing a bill on the notion that it actually wouldn't have to be signed into law, that you're going to say, we'll just vote on this for the soul purpose of being able to go back to our constituents and say the most famous line in politics, we
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tried. >> in the beginning when we were first talking about the affordable care act, one of the things that was tabled many times was the single payer option and it got swept under the rug for all these glamorous options which are beginning to implode. it seems like that's all they have left. i would love for people to make a true capital isic decision. >> there is a republican controlled house and senate and they're not taking advantage of it. >> useless republicans. >> tell me more. why are they so useless. >> they're absolutely useless. you have john mccain who i personal believe john mccain is on nancy pelosi's payroll. whenever you want a republican to stab other republicans in the back, you go to john mccain and lindsey graham. >> war veteran, hero, prison of war. >> he also complained on repealing obamacare for seven years and then once he had the opportunity to make that happen, he totally reneged on that.
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>> thoughts? >> i take real issue with john mccain. i don't think there's a person out there that is happy that he has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. it's horrible. however, the fact that this man that we elected for the most part to represent us and our interests in washington d.c., how he could stand on the floor on a vote that could give us a better health care system, any degree, anything is better than what we're dealing with right now, with a scar across his forehead and say that we don't deserve the same level of care that he has. >> i think what's going to be so interesting for people watching who have a different perspective is to hear most of you all say, like, point fingers at everyone else but the president. no one's trying to play the blame game, but does he own any responsibility for virtually zero major legislative victories in the first six months? >> he's had legislative
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victories. >> i'm not talking about signing executive orders. i mean a win in congress. >> well, the congress, he's not the one casting the votes in congress. to think that there was going to be some -- it was going to be camelot with donald trump, i think that's a complete fallacy. >> who wishes he didn't tweet? >> obviously, yeah. >> three of you. >> i think i wish he tweeted more responsibly, put it that way. twitter is a useful tool when used appropriately. i think that again when you're literally rewriting dod policy 140 characters at a type -- >> that rubs you the wrong way. >> he's the same person he was when we sent him to washington. if he had changed and started filtering everything that came out of his mouth, that would have been more of a concern for me. fdr had the fireside chats, jfk had television, donald trump has social media. >> you have to call a spade a spade. he brings it on himself sometimes. the tweeting, i'm the first
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person to say, i understand him -- >> you don't love it? >> not at all. i understand him using social media as an outlet because he believes that certain media outlets are fake news and i understand him wanting to have a voice and hearing it directly from the source, but there's a way to do it. and we like that about him. that's, i think, why half of america voted for him, but the thing is that the other half of america, you know, they're scared off of him. >> nicole, starting with you, russia, when i say russia you say -- >> there's no reason why we can't forge an amicable relationship where the united states remains in control. >> there is no connection with russia that is substantial compared to the clinton foundation. and, people tend to forget that we spent the first eight years of the bush -- bush 2 doing recounts and with the opposition party trying to discredit the
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election. and i think that's exactly what's happening here. >> keep your enemy closer. this is not the cold war anymore. there's no reason that we cannot try to salvage some sort of relationship with them, as long as they stay in line. >> show of hands, who believed russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election? >> interfered? >> interfered. >> define interference. >> i'm saying the cia, fbi, office of national intelligence, all say that russia interfered in the election. >> they've interfered in every election and they -- >> hang on, so i'm clear, is that a half hand raise? >> the intel clearly to me supports the fact that there was attempted russian interference. i don't believe that russia changed the outcome of the election. i think that's the problem that individuals on the right have, this kind of nuanced assertion that somehow russia is responsible for donald trump being president of the united
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states. >> define what the interference was. was it cyber hacks on our political parties? was it, you know, hacking into voting machines and changing numbers? >> these chiefs were saying it was russia with the dnc sharing the information with wikileaks. >> i mean, a lot of people are saying that seth rich was the source for that, even julian asa assan assange. >> that story has been entirely debunked, it's been retracted by fox news, fact. >> russia does cyber security stuff, hacking. okay, we do too, and so does china. so does -- this happens across the board and this is kind of the environment that we're living in right now. >> how do you reconcile hearing multiple versions of events from multiple people within the trump white house? >> there is a daily chipping away at the credibility of this administration executed by the administration.
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and again, it's incumbent on us to me, as republicans, as conservatives, to say, just be transparent. >> we're in peril times right now so this is where we need to be focused on, not who's colluding with russia. let those denpartments handle that. we need to shape this country. >> that wasn't the end of the conversation. i sat with them for about an hour and a half and where it got quite feisty was when we started talking about the transgender military band, do you remember the tweets from trump where he wrote and surprised dod saying that members of the military core transgender should not be in the military, and what that panel had to say about that was something. we'll have that for you tomorrow. but in the meantime, i'm going to hand it over to washington. i'm brooke baldwin, thank you so much for being with me. "the lead with jake tapper" starts right now.
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this is cnn breaking news. >> good afternoon and welcome to the lead. we begin with breaking news. minutes ago president trump not only did not back down from his threat that if north korea keeps acting the way it is, it will face, quote, fire and fury the likes of which this world has never seen before. the president said it, quote, maybe wasn't tough enough. then he issued another stark warning. >> north korea better get their act together or they're going to be in trouble like few nations ever have been in trouble in this world. >> president trump is currently meeting with members of his national security team. that's a meeting that was recently added to his schedule. today north korea, that country's military announced that a plan to fire four missiles to the waters near the u.s. territory of guam will be ready for kim jong-un's consideration within days. we have our team of cnn reporters spread out throughout the globe. from guam to south korea to china to the white house covering all angles of this